Anti-Mafia Italian priest undeterred by threat from 'boss of bosses'

September 01, 2014

An Italian priest says that he is not concerned about reports that a powerful Mafia figure wanted to have him killed.

Father Luigi Ciotti admitted that it was “very significant” that the imprisoned “boss of bosses, Toto Riina, spoke of having him killed. But the priest said that it was “very strange” that Riina’s threats, which were captured in a wiretapped conversation more than a year ago, have only now been brought to his attention.

Father Ciotti has plagued Mafia leaders through his leadership of “Libera,” an organization devoted to converting property held by organized-crime figures into legitimate businesses and public institutions. “For me,” he told La Repubblica, “the commitment has always been an act of faith in the Gospel, to denounce injustice and violence, to stand on the side of the victims, the poor, the excluded.”

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